Winter Favorites 2015

Spring is starting to spring in Korea and it's about time too! It has been so cold for so long and even though I did enjoy wearing my winter jacket I was seriously getting tired of having to wear it everywhere. It's still not warm enough to go completely sans jacket, but I don't have to layer to the point where "I can't put my arms down". Gold star for whoever gets that reference. For everyone else, go watch this. Merry Christmas.

Favorite K-pop of the Year - Solos and Sub Units 2014

I always like to put something in front of the actual post, but I am seriously drawing a blank here. I could say something corny about soloists being brave and unique to be their own person instead of hanging out in a group, but I am not really feeling that right now. I guess the only thing that I can think of is that the artists in this list are all over the place. There's folk pop, K-pop, a fake group, and some in between things. So after that awkward intro, on to the post!

Heyne Love007

How's the song? 

From the moment that she debuted, I fell in love with Heyne and I don't know why, it doesn't makes any sense. Her voice is so cute and her debut video was really cute too and that is something that I normally don't like at all. But then again, I do like to listen to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu sometimes. I'm a complicated being.

Heyne has this fun 80s vibe about her so it made perfect sense that she would dress up as Cyndi Lauper during that performance where VIXX dressed like the Wonder Girls. When I heard that was going to be her performance, I immediately though, that makes perfect sense. I could already hear her voice and see her bouncing around the stage with teased hair and neon colors.

I think that what I like about her so much is that she does have a different sound than the other female singers around her. That's one of the reasons that I like Lim Kim, her voice is fantastic! There are so many groups and soloists in K-pop and it is hard to make yourself known even if you do have something that no one else does.

It also helps if you have a large company to back you up, but not everyone has that. As I have been broadening my K-pop spectrum I have found that some of my favorite groups are a bit nugu which is a shame because they deserve some sort of recognition, but who's to say if that is ever going to happen with the amount of activity that is going on in the entertainment world. Go support the lesser knowns!!!

How's the video? 

I don't think that Heyne would be a very good spy, either that, or the company she is working for is incompetent because she wouldn't be able to take anyone out in that brick room because every member of the K-pop community live in there. I can see it now.......

HEYNE: Code Name: Heyne. Mission: take out that guy from SNL Korea. My target is locked, nothing could go wrong........wait, what? U-KISS? What are you doing here? I'm on a top secret mission, you have to get out!

U-KISS: We can't! We're been stuck in this room for so long that Dongho has come down with a serious case of the crazies! He has this imaginary girlfriend and we don't want to get him out into the real world until we know that he isn't going to end up doing something embarrassing or dangerous.

HEYNE: That's terrible! I hope that he is okay, send me a text when he's better. Try to stay out of my way though, I may be the size of a toothpick, but I'm packing heat. Okay, that was weird. Well, back to the mission. Where are you, you.....what? Again? What are you guys doing in here?

TEEN TOP: Oh, you know, just posing, cheating on girls, you want to join?

HEYNE: Excuse me? How about I shoot you? Get out of here! I'm on a mission! Seriously, how big is this room? I could have sworn that U-KISS was standing in that exact spot a second ago.

This is totally what would happen. This room is so overused, you would think that K-pop groups would want to be original but they all just go to this same room. Whoever owns this room is a genius because he must be rolling in money.

How's the styling? 

I wasn't totally sold on Heyne's hair in this video. I actually thought that she was wearing a bad hair piece in the beginning. From the front it looks likes she has ahjumma hair and it confused me.

The only time that I thought her bangs looked good was in the dancing scenes and when she was wearing the pencil skirt because they were straight and even then I wasn't totally on the bang boat. They seemed way over styled and heavy and they weren't doing anything for her face.

Questionable hair aside, I did like what she was wearing in the video. I also noticed for the first time how tiny she was. I had read something about it, but I didn't realize how small she was until she was standing with her back up dancers.

Yes, he knees are a little bent, but so are all the other girls' knees! And look at her waist! She is seriously like half the size of the girls around her.

My favorite outfit that she wore was the white one with all the colorful  spots.

This outfit has a bit of an 80s feel with the one glove and the tulle skirt and I've already said that she reminds me of an Asian Cyndi Lauper so I loved everything about this.

Is the dance super amazing? 

The main point of the dance was a modified River Dance.  

Other than that, there wasn't much to the dance, just a lot of hopping and looking cute.

Which member owned it? 

Since Kim Min Kyo played Heyne's James Bond, it could have been easy for him to outshine her since he is such a large character and popular in Korea. Heyne was able to shine along side him though, which is good since it was her video and all. 

Did the English make your ears bleed? 

The English in this song is all pretty good. I heard all the English parts before I added subs and that can sometimes be a great accomplishment in songs (ie Ravi-ese). I don't know if Heyne speaks any English or if she just works under a very competent company, but I hope that her English continues to be good. 

What else is happening?  

Things I liked 

MIB "Worry About Yourself" 

LPG "Ppang Ya Ppang Ya"

Topp Dogg "Cigarette"

Things that made me go meh

9Muses "Glue"

G.NA "Mornin'"

Jonghyun and Juniel "Love Falls"

Christmas!!!!!!

Crayon Pop "Lonely Christmas" 

EXO "Miracles in December"

United Cube "Christmas Song"

Jellyfish Entrainment "Winter Confession"

Mystic89 "Christmas Wishes"

Koyote "After Winter"

Queen B'z "What I Want"

K-pop Half Time Show 2013 Debuts

I have noticed that with the creation of this blog I know a lot more about rookie groups. I am paying more attention to everything that is happening in K-pop and I am so glad for that! There are all of these great rookie groups that I would have never known about otherwise had I not searched for them. 

There is so much going on in the K-pop world that it is hard to become big when there are so many other established groups out there. There is so much talent coming from small companies that get crushed by other companies like SM, YG, and Cube, it is easy to over look some of them. Don't do it though! Go love the little people who sing these songs!

Comebacks      Solos and Sub Units

Debuts 

Girls 

Heyne "Dalla"

I am kind of obsessed with this song right now. The first time that I heard it I wasn't sure how I felt about it because she has a very cute voice, it's almost at a J-pop level just to give you an idea. The video is also very cute and collectively all those things are totally not me. But now, for some unknown reason, I absolutely love this song. There is a comment on Youtube at the moment that says "Her voice is the sound of honeybees, candy, baby animals, and rainbows all having an orgy" and I completely agree with that statement. It just makes me really happy and I think that it is a really good song to be listening to right now that summer has come upon us.   

~ Alora

GI (Global Icon) "Beatles"

This debut was picked by Becca and I have to say that I agree. I was excited to see them debut because they seemed to have quite a different concept from most girl groups; especially girl groups this year because it is all about "sex sells" right now and this video showcased their vocals and dancing without wearing next to nothing. Sure it was a little heavy on the auto tune, but listening to their debut stage shows that they aren't just a bunch of cute faces. I hope that they stick with this concept and it isn't just a gimmick to get them popularity in the beginning. 

~ Alora  

Most awesome bad a** female debut - Becca

Boys  

Never Mind "Shooting Star" 

I am super obsessed with this group right now. They are just so wonderful and my life is better for discovering them. They have a really interesting sound for K-pop because they don't sound like a K-pop band; they sound like something that I would hear over the American radio, aside from the fact that they are singing in Korean, of course. To make them even cooler, they write, compose, and arrange all their own music! Please excuse me while I commence drooling over them. Bands are very unrepresented in the K-pop scene and I hope that these guys do really well because I will probably buy everything that they put out. These guys have one other video called "Hoi Hoi" go check it out!

~ Alora

PURE "I Still Love You" 

I love a good piano track and this music video delivers just that. The only problem with this group, and it is a problem, is that they do sound just like any other group and that makes me sad because they do have strong vocals. Hopefully in the future they can create a more solid sound because I would like to hear more from them.

~ Alora

 BTS "No More Dream"

The fact that I love this song so much baffles me because it is totally not my style. I don't mind some rapping, but I need a melody line to keep me happy. This doesn't really have one, but the first time I heard it I just wanted more. I am excited to see what else that they put out in the future. Something that I wonder about is if they will ever do a cutey boy concept because I have seen some pictures of them being really cute. Rap Monster being cute.......cue the goosebumps.

~ Alora 

LC9 "MaMa Beat"

Oh man this song, or should I say this video? After I watched the video I was in a state of shock and I realized that I had no idea what the song sounded like because I was so caught up in what was happening before my eyes. Once I listened to it again, without watching the video, I realized that they did sound pretty good. I am also kind of in love with King and his ridiculous hair, also, that boy can sing! They recently did a cover of Nelly's "Just a Dream" that I am still drooling over and it totally focuses on their vocals so you can get a better feel for all of their sounds. 

~ Alora 

Most disturbing music video award - Becca 

History "Dreamer"

This song doesn't really do it for me, so I'll just let Becca be happy about it, don't tell her

This song is so freaking good, please give me more award - Becca 

Airplane "So Pretty" 

This song came out on January 6 and these boys have been MIA since and it makes me really sad. I like that they are a smaller groups since lately the trend has been to produce these monster groups. It is easier to hear all of their vocals this way, and man do they have vocals. They voices are all very clear and they do seem to seem to have a sound down that is their own, unlike another group that I have mentioned. The video was also pretty funny, but who puts on half a face of make up and then leaves the house? 

I like this song, but it seems like maybe you fell of the face of the earth... that's too bad award - Becca

Mix

MFBTY "Sweet Dream"

I put this here slightly tentatively since all of the people in this group have already made names for themselves. This group is a new thing though and that is how I justify putting it in the debut section. One of my favorite things about these people is that they are so diverse and they are making a large impact on the music industry by doing something different. I also think that it is really cool that Yoon Mi Rae and Tiger JK are married and have a kid and you can see how much that they love each other when they are together. 

~ Alora